Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese Counterpart Xi Jinping affirmed the necessity of preserving the territorial integrity of Syria and supporting the political solution to the crisis in it as well as taking measures for rebuilding it.

“We call for the preservation of Syria’s territorial integrity, respect for its sovereignty and support for a political solution provided by the Syrians themselves with the support of the United Nations and platforms of Geneva and Astana, taking into account the outcome of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress held in Sochi last January and coordinating concrete plans and steps by Russia and China to ensure rebuilding it,” the two Presidents said in a joint statement following their meeting on Friday in the Chinese Capital.